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As supporters of legalized marijuana organize for the November election, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman says she wants no part of it.
In a statement published on her campaign website, Whitman calls marijuana “a gateway drug whose use would expand greatly among our children if it were to be legalized.”
An activist coalition, Tax Cannabis 2010, is promoting a November ballot measure that would allow Californians ages 21 years and up to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and allow local governments to regulate and tax it.
Whitman’s position is part of a five-point policy page on crime.
The Whitman paper also includes:
• Support for the three-strikes-you’re-out law, which calls for life sentences for repeat offenders;
• Support for the death penalty;
• Prison reform that includes support for construction of new prisons and opposition to early release of criminals; and
• Opposition to additional gun control laws.
Comments
support for the death penalty but not for legalized marijuana, what a dumb bitch.
Another whitey supporting Jim Crow laws. New prisons? This woman is sick!
If CA votes this Women into office it would be unbelievable. She stands for everything California is NOT. Politicians like this should not even have the Guts to run anymore.
just a nother freedom hater, not smart enough to read data on a page.A Gatewayer, this statement has been proved to be wrong..by research..not a gate way drug..and as far as for the children go..if you love them end the violence
Some people will never get it. She will lose.
Meg Whitman being a "reefer madness" prison builder makes her a poster child for the ignorant and insane. I'm guessing that she is also a fundamentalist Christian klinging to her guns and bibles and wanting badly to control her neighbors. This type of politician should retire into oblivion.
Click the link for her policy page.
Heavy on incarnating ... anyone not like her. Nothing like jail for those that don't fit her society. I liked her comment about how she would cut everywhere to keep anyone from leaving prison early. So, apparently, she would cut school funding to keep hot check writers or a pot smokers in jail. Hard as I try, I can't find any logic in that. Keep the non-violent out of jail.
For the love of all things good, keep this person out of ANY office, private or public.
7,000 people were murdered by the Mexican drug cartels last year because we in the US kept marijuana illegal, many of the victims were children, police officers and politicians. This year the cartels are on track to kill at least 9,000 more.
Sixty percent of cartel money comes from selling marijuana in the US. Since the prohibition can't stop people smoking we must end it and allow reputable US businesses to undercut the cartels and end their financial ability and incentive to commit these murders. After seventy years of ineffective prohibition we can no longer justify keeping marijuana illegal.
sorry Meg, i am not voting for you. 'cause you're just like the rest of them...
Here is why she isn't a good choice, she is in the business of making money, running big companies that literally crap on the small guys. We need someone with compassion for the people of the state, not a cold hearted bottom line business woman who's out on a mission to prove something.
I am voting for legalizing marijuana, I cant live with the fact that so many people are dieing because of the laws and not the drug. A law is only good when it works, and this law causes more violence/corruption/greed/death than marijuana ever could, its a huge problem that lives depend on, if we do nothing the blood is on our hands. Besides, marijuana alone is pretty harmless compared to AK47's and cartels.
Use your brain and stop ignoring facts. Wont be voting for someone to stupid to see something clear as day through medical and scientific facts. Clearly just another brain washed drone not deserving of office.
Sorry Meg, I liked your radio commercials, but after hearing this news I am deeply disappointed. I will not be voting for you. I have children and I fear what may happen to them if ever caught up in the system for a small minor drug offense, it could ruin their entire lives, literally! Would you change your mind if one of your kids was arrested for a joint? Ya, I bet you would. Come down to earth and join the rest of us.
WOW, the CA polls show more than 50% in favor of legalizing and she comes out and says this? That's political suicide right there, she must not really want to be in office? Strange
I am a mother and fear for my children as well, my sister has 2 sons, one of them at the age of 19 was caught with the wrong people at the wrong time and is in jail as I type this, hes a good kid despite this. He was going to play basketball for UCLA before this happened, and his dreams have now been smashed, and his future is dim at best, and all because of a small piece of a harmless plant. Does this sound fair to anyone out there?
Sorry Meg...you just lost my vote.
Elizabeth, you nephew obviously did something a lot worse than just touch a harmless "piece" of plant. His dreams to go play basketball probably would not be shattered and he definitely not in jail over marijuana. UCLA would never have found out about his marijuana charge. Get a grip woman, anything can get you in trouble and mess up your life if you let it!
Ms. Whitman is one of those foolish (or shady) politicians who has no earthly idea what she's talking about. The "gateway theory" has been debunked. If she's not up-to-speed on these facts, what else is she wrong or confused about?
It's good to know that many politicians are starting to see the light: that prohibition is the root cause for all the marijuana related problems we have today. So it is important to support them with votes, AND with finance. Send some cash their way. And vote fools like Meg Whitman OUT!
Truth is, kids get pot easier today BECAUSE IT IS ILLEGAL. Illegal means it's UNREGULATED. They can get pot "within the hour" whereas it's harder for them to get booze or tobacco. The reason? They're ACTUALLY CONTROLLED! "Controlled substances" with regards to illicit drugs is a complete lie.
Also, drug dealers DO NOT ASK FOR ID. AND, the actual gateway is created by dealers offering other illegal drugs.
WAKE UP AMERICA! END PROHIBITION and use SENSE for once.
Hopefully she will be arrested and die in prison before she is elected.
All the facts are out there and Meg Whitman still doesn't understand anything about cannabis or cannabis related laws. I am gonna have to bring up a saying i like to remind myself of when I see and hear of people like Meg Whitman. You really cant fix stupid, no matter how hard we try to educate weak minded people like Meg Whitman they are just never going to understand the true reality. She is always prone to ponder in lala land.
mEROCH- you must be a bit off balance, Universities are required to know if you've been charged with possession of any illegal substances. It's Federal Law that students receiving any sort of financial aid from federally funded sources either never have been charged, or take the appropriate drug education classes before spending tax dollars on their education.
So yes, it could just be that "little piece of plant" that shattered his dreams.
The Arrest and Prosecution Industry is determined to maintain the war on marijuana, at the expense of our citizens, including our children. Law enforcement officials are not motivated by maintaining public safety. They are motivated by one thing: job security. These people are not out to protect people; they are out to fight a literal war on marijuana, medical or otherwise. As they fight this war, they do their utmost to ensure that we remain awash in alcohol, the substance that contributes most to the crime and violence that they thrive upon.
We surely do not need Meg Whitman. We need less government and less government control over the people, not more of the same hypocirsy and huge spending that has caused us to go bankrupt as the prison and arrest and prosecution industry grows like the malignant cancers that they are. !
Boy is she an idiot. First of all, the gateway drug has proven to be irrelevant and a useless comeback. Kids go from milk, to alcohol, to maybe marijuana. Second, kids are able to get marijuana easier than alcohol, due to underground sellers. By having it legal, it would be harder to get marijuana, since the underground market that makes it easy to get would disappear.
wow if you had marijuana leagilized the tax payers would not be paying for them to stay in jail. And marijuana is a plant not like crack or anything i mean whats rong with it it also has less deaths than tabbaco.
Apparently Meg Whitman aspires to be the Martha Coakley of California.
(Martha Coakley is the Massachusetts Attorney General who recently ceded Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican, because--in my opinion--she opposed the 2008 decriminalization initiative, and then after it passed by 65%, did all she could to undermine it and tell the voters they were wrong.)
Meg Whitman is not your God! No one has the authority to tell YOU what plants are legal or illegal, NO ONE! Socially Conservative individuals are Psychopaths. Socially Conservative individuals will always tell you when someone wants to help someone or make things right that, "The world will end if this happens!"...the same thing was uttered from the less educated when someone mentioned, "let's allow blacks to vote, and said it again when, "let's allow women to vote", or when stopping segregation was mentioned, or today when health care is mentioned, the Socially Conservatives will say: "The world is going to end.", and make no doubt they will lie, no matter how absurd and obvious, they will lie, because that is what the Psychopathic will do.
If some stranger walked up to your home, pointed to your tomato plant and claimed: "That's illegal!", you would think that person is crazy!...so don't put up the crazies when they call themselves the DEA or the FEDS.
I will tell you something else, too! "Illegalizing" (haha) marijuana is a violation of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"...marijuana is a sure fit to all of those, LIFE, LIBERTY, and YOUR pursuit of happiness!...not the Government's pursuit of happiness, not the company/corporation plutocracy, YOU!
If you don't think a single plant is important, let me tell you about shamanism, let me tell you about the communication between us and God...how would that be done do you think?...sitting on your arse watching TV? Marijuana isn't for everyone(like everything else) but for the few people who can work with marijuana or any other plant drug, these drugs which your government fears so much, are amazing catalysts. Going to work, driving in your car, consumer life is dwarfed in comparison to the inner word which your government denies you!
Your government doesn't want you to get smart!
Your government is so weak it can't even deal will every plant that exists!
Srry meg, i dont buy into your crap, I call 2 scoops of bull$hit on this one. Coffee is a gatewaydrug. Or wait is it milk that leads to alcohol. Any ya we really need mor prisons.....More black people in jail then slaved in 1870, mainly for noviolent petty marijuana crimes. Get a life....educate yourself. Normal.org is a good place to start.
Apparently Meg Whitman aspires to be the Martha Coakley of California.
(Martha Coakley is the Massachusetts Attorney General who recently ceded Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican, because--in my opinion--she opposed the 2008 decriminalization initiative, and then after it passed by 65%, did all she could to undermine it and tell the voters they were wrong.)
The Government is not your God!
The DEA is not your God!
Meg Whitman is not your God!
These individuals and companies act like they are the gate keepers!
They are Not!
If all of you could grow any plant God has given you, then you will be living in the adult world...the Government, DEA, Meg Whitman, and other Social Conservatives don't want that! They are already having a hard time living in Internment Camp called America...life is hard for these people, simple things are hard, they can't deal with adult life!...they are already having time in the child's play pen they have created, and work to keep the status quo...
They hold everyone else back because they are weak!
We should not stand by and allow the weakest individuals hold back the majority/mankind!
They are afraid and weak. But they will be afraid and weak, no matter what world they exist in.
They are not your God!
someone needs to put this b i t c h in a cage and see how she feels to be locked up , but everyones right, you cant fix stupid, and stupid americans are voting in stupid people, i would prefer my kid smoke pot than drink alcohol, what about when your "children" grow up, all these politicians, think that these children are gonna be children forever, jesus christ, they will grow up and use all the drugs they want, the only thing the prohibition creates is jobs, and corrupt police who enforce oppressive and evil laws against the public, i hate this country
Not voting for her!!!!!
Jerry Brown who is running as a democrat says he is not going to get on the legalization bandwagon, so if you don't vote for Whitman, don't vote for Brown either if marijuana is your only criterion in a governor. The Constitution does not say anyone has a right to smoke tobacco or marijuana or crack. It does say the government should promote the general welfare, and marijuana does not promote the general welfare as it is addictive and harmful to the lungs and brain, immune system etc. Elizabeth, if your son wants to be a basketball player for UCLA he would be drug tested and smoking marijuana would not be helpful for his game.
Whitman is right: 98% of those who do cocaine, do marijuana first = gateway. If you don't do marijuana ever you have almost 0 chance of doing cocaine. The younger the age of starting marijuana, the more likely to later use cocaine.
Legalization = more use as with alcohol and tobacco.
We don't need any more stoners dragging down our state!
stoners are not dragging down the state. alcoholics are! have another drink, you drunk!
You know what most people try before marijuana though? Cigarettes! Now tell me what's the real gateway drug?
Marijuana has been used by man for over 4000 years it has been illegal for around 70 years. Why is it we never had a problem with marijuana until we decided to make it illegal? How can one justify the legality of alcohol when marijuana is illegal?
I have always believed for a crime to take place there must be a victim. If one chooses to consume marijuana in the privacy of their own home who is the victim?
Cannabis laws themselves are more harmful than actually using cannabis. I've had enough of this reefer madness insanity. I'm tired of hearing about all of the horrors that will come if cannabis is legalized. Prohibitionists don't realize that they are surrounded by cannabis now. If the evils of cannabis were true, then where are the walking zombies? When using cannabis, all I see is, mostly, people minding their own business and acting responsibly. Not all people do. But then, what activity will have a 100 percent safety record? So why the mis-scheduling of cannabis and laws that put people away for decades.
Time to vote on it. I believe the votes are there to just outright legalize cannabis.
Vote to Legalize. VTL.
My parents were alcoholics and abusers. I enlisted in the army when I was 17 years old just to get away from home and the abuse. Surprise! Almost everyone in the army were boozers also.
In 1968 I was sent to Vietnam and discovered a safer alternative, cannabis. That was over 40 years ago and my life could not be better. I have missed out on America's #1 drug, alcohol and all it's wonderful little side effects. The slurred speech, the stumbling, the passing out or blackouts, the violence, the abuse, the vomiting, the liver problems. Yes sir, alcohol is a wonderful legal drug folks and you deserve it too, so drink up america. While you are passing judgement on me, I'll laugh at you! You keep your "bud" and I'll keep mine. PS, Even if I were to smoke an ounce of cannabis I could still recite my ABC's and walk a straight line. How about that!
From Dave:"The Constitution does not say anyone has a right to smoke tobacco or marijuana or crack. It does say the government should promote the general welfare, and marijuana does not promote the general welfare as it is addictive and harmful to the lungs and brain, immune system etc."
I believe you Dave so in the spirit of promoting the general welfare of the public why don't you pour yourself a double. Alcohol is so good for the general welfare. You are an idiot. America needs a safer choice, unless of course you think that the wonders of alcohol is all america ever needs. It was good enough for our fathers so it must be good enough for us eh? Again, you are an idiot.
I was thinking of voting for her. Unfortunately, I can not and will not support a person who continues to ignore the realities regarding marijuana. All the prohibition does is support drug dealers like Mexican cartels losing out on Trillions in tax dollars. Anyone that knows anything about what is going on today knows that kids can get marijuana easier than obtaining alcohol in most big cities across America. Lifting the ban might make it more difficult to get it on the street if they had to show ID before purchasing.
Oh and Dave, If you want to use that flawed reasoning then all or most of those that do cocaine have used or do use alcohol and or tobacco. Both of which from the medical evidence are more harmful to your body and society than marijuana. So under your reasoning all substances should be illegal because cocaine and or crack addicts used it at one point or another. Please stop using flawed reasoning to support your stand on the issue.
"Whitman is right: 98% of those who do cocaine, do marijuana first = gateway."
How so? You can put almost anything in there and the statement would be just as true.
"Whitman is right: 98% of those who do cocaine, drank milk as a kid = gateway."
"Whitman is right: 98% of those who do cocaine, drank alcohol first = gateway."
"Whitman is right: 98% of those who do cocaine, attended the D.A.R.E. program = gateway."
It is a logical fallacy to assume that correlation implies causation. Correlation does not prove causality, but non-correlation proves non-causality.
The following is a flawed argument:
Event A occurs in concurrence with Event B
Therefore, Event A causes Event B
This is flawed because:
There may be a third, confounding variable C which causes A and B
B may cause A
The relationship may be a complete coincidence.
I agree with Pete, If she she cant figure out the truth about marijuana, how in the heck does she expect to run california. The truth is out there, please educate your self, then mabee run for an important office. You may have a better chance then.
Strange how I can't find a single science-based peer reviewed paper showing anything this lady has said to be true or factual regarding marijuana.
This woman is from 1910.
Well it looks like all the facts are here, I just want to comment that if you think marijuana is harmful why don't you look at all of the legal drugs and look how many peoples lives are ruined by those...caffine, tobacco, alcohol, asprin, Xanex, Etc. Prohibition has never worked! God couldn't even keep Adam and Eve from eating the forbidden fruit.
legalization is what the people of California want. She still believes in the myths about marijuana. if the citizens of California vote in favor of it come November then that's how it should be. What makes her view on marijuana so special compared to us citizens? It's clear that she's not listening to the people, which is a sign that she will continue the same trend in the future.
look close, for its this mind set that we have to overcome. Listen to her words, they represent a complete misrepresentation of what we believe..still believes gateway theory which has been scientifically proved to be false..truth will change minds but they will change faster when served with honey and not vinegar ..good on you
Meg has experienced enough of the world of big big biz, to know, that in her state, neither profit nor non profit organizations can possibly survive without case flow, as her political adversary has demanded of the medical marijuana movement, when saying that (sic) "SALES" have never been allowed.
And certainly Meg is resourceful enough to be able to see that Madison Avenue style hype, like the term "recreational use", is keeping patients in denial, and calls for cross the board legalization are not only an affront to the people of the state , but an attack on those that could benefit from the plant medically.
As the European Union lessens restrictions , and as the A.M.A. calls marijuana medicine, this substance used elsewhere for thousands of years , is here to stay in the western world as well. As to how Meg would allow its continued use as a medicine is yet to be determined, but "recreational use"
will not happen. On the contrary, this lie must die! All use is medic
ATTN Mrs. Whitman:
I know that you are reviewing your negative criticism with your new found attention that has been brought on you in a national light. I want you to know that I did a study on the so-called 'gateway' theory, and it is appropriately named since it is definitely NOT a fact.
You see, I thought I would run the numbers myself and analyze this notion that using pot could make you a crackhead. What I found, assuming you understand statistics, is that the data shows a CORRELATION that any fool should expect to find. However, it does not show CAUSATION. Ergo, the 'theory' is a fallacy. For you to quote that as your reason for not supporting legalization is pretty laughable.
Also, don't forget that legalizing pot is not the same thing as advocating it's recreational use. It's about freedom, and you are obviously not for our freedom freedom. This means that you are not a true American, so why should anyone ever vote for you?
Good day.
My Gateway path was as follows
Cigaretts (Stolen from my Parents)
Liquor(Stolen from my Parents)
Marijuana(Purchased from a Kid named Milton)
Anyway, who cares if they legalize it. Its so easy to get you can buy it from a Kid on the street.
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